Friends in Low Places
by atypical-swan
Summary: Blame it all on my roots/I showed up in boots/and ruined your black tie affair. Song-fic. Jasper/Emmett, AU-AH, SLASH


**Title**: Friends in Low Places

**Author**: Missa

**Rating**: R

**Fandom**: Twilight

**Summary**:

Blame it all on my roots  
I showed up in boots  
And ruined your black tie affair  
The last one to know  
The last one to show  
I was the last one  
You thought you'd see there  
And I saw the surprise  
And the fear in his eyes  
When I took his glass of champagne

**Pairings**: Jasper/Emmett, Jasper/Edward, Edward/Bella

**Warnings**: this story contains strong elements of **homosexuality**. don't like it, don't read it. flames are used to cook with.

Friends in Low Places is intellectual Property of Garth Brooks

Twilight is intellectual property of S. Meyer. I'm just borrowing them. I promise to put them back - maybe even in one piece.

This is totes song fic. I rock out to my iPod on my 45 minute drive home from work. One night, as I was getting off the freeway onto the county road to finish my journey home, this song appeared, and the fic just popped into my head. It's taken me a bit longer to write than I thought it might, but it won't go away. So...here 'tis.

**Extra special bonus thanks to **Naelany** for her awesome beta skills.**

* * *

I could almost hear my pulse thundering in my ears as I stepped into the reception hall, suddenly regretting my statement that I could do this on my own, that I needed to be strong and face him, them, on my own. Though really, I couldn't hold anything against Bella. She knew the kind of man that Edward was, the kind that had left his committed partner of three years in order to be the son that his family wanted him to be. The kind of man that dumped his best friend and partner for that partner's best friend. The kind that lied to everyone, including himself. But I needed to see them, to put it all behind me, and remind myself that it was irrevocably over and Edward was out of my life for good. I hoped that maybe, someday, Bella and I could be friends again. I would make that outreach my gift to her - my wedding gift.

xXx

I was dating Edward when I met Bella. She sat next to me in an elective psychology class. I was there to fulfill a requirement for my degree; she was there because her advisor thought it might be useful for her plans to get into a Creative Writing graduate program. We hit it off instantly and became study buddies. It was easy; Edward was always off with his study groups for all of his pre-med science classes (I was pre-med too, focusing in psychiatry, but we were on slightly different tracks, being separated by a year's worth of course work). So it just worked out that for six months or so, Bella and Edward never met. I was there for her when her boyfriend, Jacob, broke her heart, and for Edward when he drove himself into a panic attack thinking (once again) about coming out to his family. I was quite literally the rock for both of them while happily doing my own thing.

Edward met Bella finally at the beginning of the next school year. Edward and I had taken a short vacation during the summer, when we weren't fulfilling some academic obligation that would help us ensure our admission into medical school (and really, I should have been playing catch up for the year I missed when daddy was sick, but I needed the break), but Bella and I had kept in touch via email and Edward had seemed happy that I had another close friend amongst our circle of acquaintances. I introduced them one night at the library when we ran into each other; I had no idea that was going to be the end of things.

Slowly, Edward began to slip away from me. We hardly saw each other, which wasn't that uncommon, really, both being pre-med and all, but whereas in the past we'd kept Saturday nights open just for us, Edward started being 'busy' on those nights. I rarely saw Bella, too, since we didn't have a class together that semester. Every time I'd text her to see if she wanted to get together since Edward had ditched me for yet another different reason, she was also busy.

Turns out they were busy with each other. But I'm ahead of myself.

Frustrated one Saturday night of being shut down by both of them again (Edward for studying, Bella out with her best friend Alice), I decided to just take it upon myself to surprise Edward. A couple hours break from studying wouldn't kill him, and he had to be as horny as I was, since we hadn't seen each other in weeks. My right hand was a more intimate acquaintance than my boyfriend lately, which just didn't seem right. So I packed up a bottle of wine, just in case I needed to grease the wheels, picked up some Italian from a little bistro around the corner from the apartment I shared with my cousin Peter, and took myself over to the nicer neighborhood where Edward lived in a townhouse paid for by his parents.

I let myself in with the key Edward had given me a couple months after we'd started seeing each other. "Edward? Baby, I thought you might want a study break. I brought dinner," I called. The house wasn't quiet; I could hear music from upstairs where I knew Edward's bedroom and study were, and the floor creaked overhead. "Edward?" I called again. I heard noise, but no response. I left the food and wine on the coffee table and slowly mounted the stairs. Edward's mom, Esme, had decorated the place and it was kept immaculate through the help of a cleaning service that came by once per week. Yeah, Edward had it easy sometimes, but I'm not sure I'd trade my accepting blue-collar family for all the money Edward had if it meant getting his conservative uptight parents in the bargain. Esme was a sweet woman, and his father, Carlisle, was a brilliant doctor, but Edward had been terrified of coming out to them for years because of their socially conservative views that basically said gays shouldn't be seen or heard ("though there's nothing wrong with that lifestyle per se").

"Hey, Edward, I," I started as I pushed the door open. And froze.

Bella jumped from Edward's lap, her unbuttoned shirt slipping from her shoulders, her bra hooked by only one latch in the back revealed as she spun away from me, her hand covering her mouth. Edward stared at me, bare chested, his lips red and swollen, an obvious bulge in his jeans.

"Never mind. You're busy. I'll see you later," I heard myself mutter. I closed the door behind me as I left, hopping smoothly down the stairs, leaving the food and wine on the table. It didn't even fully hit me until I was outside, breathing the cool night air that I had just caught my boyfriend and my best friend making out with each other, well on their way to third base.

I heard Bella yelling for me as I climbed into my truck but didn't stop. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I ignored it. It was a Saturday night. I should have gone home and studied. I should have turned off my phone and locked my door and let them stew for a couple days. Instead, I made my way to a local bar, Oasis, that reminded me of summers spent with my grandparents in Texas, full of older decent country music and servers in cute skirts, boots and hats, but with a decent bar menu. I had tagged along with Peter and Charlotte a couple of times before so it was slightly familiar, and it was on my way home.

I took a seat at the bar, and a huge man with close cropped curly hair and deep dimples when he smiled dropped a napkin in front of me. "What'll it be?" He asked, his deep voice matching the size of his body, easily carrying over the music piped through the room.

"Beer. Whatever's on tap," I ordered, reaching for my wallet.

He waved me off. "I'll start you a tab, man. Looks like you might want to be here for awhile. Girl trouble?"

I snorted. "Yeah. You could say that."

He nodded and turned away. I studied my hands against the worn wood of the bar. I could've brought in my backpack; I'd left it in the truck. I brought it, thinking that if Edward was studying maybe _after_ we could study together. I snorted again. Fat fucking chance.

"Here," the bar man said quietly, setting a pint down in front of me. "Anything else?"

I drew my finger down through the condensation on the glass. "Yeah, can I get a burger?" Even if I was going to drown my sorrows I needed to be conscious to get back to things in the morning. I only had three semesters of school left (if I took winter and summer session) and didn't want to fuck anything up when I was getting ready to apply to medical schools.

"Sure. May be a bit, I'm the cook and we're a bit short handed tonight," he answered.

"Got nowhere else to be at the moment," I replied, finally curling my fingers around the handle of the glass and pulling it toward me. "Thanks."

"No sweat. I'm Emmett. If you need anything else, just holler." He smiled again, flashing those dimples, and moved on down the bar.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket. I took a long pull off my beer and sighed through my nose, finally pulling the phone out.

**I'm sorry. Pls let me explain** from Edward.

I erased the message and texted Peter, letting him know I was going to be out for awhile, and turned my phone off before sticking it back in my pocket. I didn't want to talk to anyone, least of all them. I focused on my glass, watching the sweat roll down the frosted sides as the temperature equalized before I lifted it again. I wasn't nursing it, but I felt awkward and weird alone at the bar, surrounded by people. I sighed again, considering rescinding that order for the burger and just going through the drive-through and the liquor store and going home where I could mope in peace, or least watch a movie while I tried to figure out what I was going to do. I was halfway off the stool with my hand to my wallet when a basket of nachos appeared at my elbow. I looked up into the face of a statuesque blond woman who would have been drop dead gorgeous if she'd been smiling (hey, I'm gay, I'm not blind). "I didn't order-" I protested.

"S'okay," she said, managing a half-grin. "They're on Em." She nodded back toward the kitchen. "Want a top off?" She pointed toward my mug, a third full.

I nodded and settled back onto the stool. I finished the beer as she slid another toward me on the bar. "Thanks."

"No problem, sugar," she said, a hint of that familiar southern accent emerging on the endearment, and she was off fixing a tray of drinks that she easily carried around the bar to a waiting table.

I picked at the nachos. There was a television mounted in a corner with headline news playing. the sound was muted but if I focused I could catch the headlines scrolling past or the closed captioning; wearing my glasses was something else I probably should've been doing, but they were in my bag, for the studying _after_ that never happened. I'd have a headache in the morning, but the beer would ensure that, anyway. Before I knew it my second beer and the basket of nachos were gone, but before I could think to look for someone to replace either a burger was placed in front of me, along with a fresh mug. I nodded my thanks and mostly tuned out the noise around me.

The burger was perfectly cooked and the beer was cold, and for just a few minutes I stopped thinking and just ate.

"Hey, man, you Jasper?" Emmett asked, a phone pressed to his shoulder.

I nodded, my mouth full. Emmett smiled and turned back around, speaking into the phone. I tracked him with my eyes as I finished my supper, curious. Emmett returned a moment later.

"Your roommate, Peter, couldn't get you on your mobile, but he remembered you'd been here before. He said he's got to take Charlotte home; her mom's real sick. He just wanted you to know and didn't know if you'd be sober enough to find a note when you made it home," Emmett relayed.

"Thanks," I answered quietly. All the more reason for me to be heading home, then. Peter and Charlotte were pretty good about splitting their time between our place and hers, and I also knew that Peter was close to proposing to that girl. He just didn't want a long engagement and didn't want to kick me out before I graduated. At one time I had told him I'd just move in with Edward; we'd been together two years at that point and it seemed logical. Peter, the smug know-it-all bastard had held off, not wanting me to jump into anything. I wonder what he'd seen that I'd missed. Or what I'd chosen not to see.

"No problem. Want another?" Emmett asked, wiping down the bar.

"No, thanks. Cash me out?" I asked, reaching once more for my wallet.

Emmett nodded. "Need a cab?"

I shook my head. "I'm good. I could use the walk anyway," I answered. My place wasn't far, and I could come back for the truck in the morning when I was ready for another study break. Or whatever.

Emmett slipped a piece of paper onto the bar. "Have a good night, Jasper."

"Yeah, thanks, Emmett," I answered absently, reaching for my tab as he stepped away to tend to another customer. I tipped heavily, making a note to stop by the ATM for more cash again sometime soon, and slipped back out of the bar. I tugged my jacket tighter around me and headed for home after retrieving my bag from the truck and making sure it was locked up for the night. The bar was in a decent enough neighborhood; it'd be fine overnight.

It took me half an hour to walk home at a pretty fast pace. It was getting late, I was buzzed, and I just wanted to fall into bed and pretend the last several hours hadn't happened. Unfortunately, when I got home and went to the answering machine (seeing Peter's note next to it), I saw a blinking 15. I nearly deleted them all without listening, but Mama preferred calling the landline, thinking mobile phones were unreliable for delivering messages. With a sigh I dropped my bag on the kitchen table and started the messages.

"Jasper, it's," _beep_. Deleted.

"Jazzy, please," _beep_. Deleted.

"Jasper, baby, come on," _beep_. Deleted.

On and on for ten more messages, alternating Edward and Bella's voices. The fourteenth was Charlotte, asking me to please feed her cat ("Or, y'know, bring her to your place since that'd be easier and all") since she wasn't sure when they'd be back (or when I'd turn my cell phone back on), and reminded me there was a spare key in Peter's desk. The final one was Bella again, and I don't know why, but I let it play.

"I'm sorry," her soft voice carried over the recorder and I imagined her back at her place, or in an isolated corner of Edward's where he couldn't immediately hear her. "I betrayed you and our friendship. I'd like to talk to you, when you're ready," she said, tears in her voice. "I'll be at Alice's for a couple of days," she confided. There was a long pause before a soft "Bye, Jazzy," came over before the beep.

I deleted that one, too.

xXx

When I got up the next morning I turned off the ringer on the landline and silenced my phone after I turned it back on. I cleared all the messages from Edward and Bella without reading them, and listened to the voicemails just long enough to make sure my mother hadn't called. I settled down at the kitchen table to study with a big mug of coffee and my iPod, and managed about two hours before the rumbling of my stomach told me I should seek food. Peter and I hadn't grocery shopped in weeks so we lacked just about anything edible. I grabbed my wallet and tugged on my trainers after getting the spare key to Charlotte's place, and jogged my way back to the bar and my truck. It was where I'd left it, and after a quick stop at the grocery store for staples (cereal, milk, pop tarts, bananas), I picked up Char's cat and all the accessories and transported everything back home.

I nearly didn't get out of my truck when I saw the hunched over figure in front of my door. I should have expected him to come around, I just didn't expect it to be so soon. With a sigh I gathered the cat carrier and grocery bags, leaving the litter box and other supplies for the moment. "Go home, Edward," I said quietly as I approached my door. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"I need to explain," he began, his normally velvet smooth voice rough and tired sounding.

"You need to leave," I repeated. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now. I need some time to cool off before I do something we'll both regret." I managed to get the door open and the carrier and groceries set inside. "Go home, Edward."

"Bella's not talking to me either." He sounded so sad and pathetic.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should have considered the consequences of going behind people's backs," I barked. I sighed. "This is why I don't want to have this conversation right now. I'm angry and I'm hurt, and I don't want to hurt you, so you need to leave," I said firmly.

"I want to work this out," he said plaintively.

"I'm not sure that's going to happen," I said honestly. "Look, Edward, you lied to me," I said calmly. "I don't know for how long, and that doesn't really matter. But you lied to me, and you convinced one of my best friends to lie to me, too. I put up with a lot, including not revealing our relationship to your family for three fucking years, Edward, but hiding from them is not the same thing as lying about you being with my best friend. I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to talk to you about this right now. Go home," I repeated. "I'll call you in a couple days, maybe." I was fortunate that we didn't have any classes together this term.

He sighed. "Do you know where Bella is?"

"Yes," I said honestly. "But if she'd wanted you to know, she'd have told her yourself. Let her be. Go home. We'll talk when we've had a chance to calm down and be rational about all of this." I was acting far more calmly than I felt. I want to rail at him for betraying our three year relationship, for stealing my best friend, for being such a goddamned schmuck. Instead I spoke calmly. "Go home, Edward."

He finally nodded and slowly made his way down the stairs and the walk. I watched him go, then turned my attention back to the crying of the cat in the carrier.

xXx

I fell into an easy routine over the next week. I woke up, I went to class, I came home and studied. I talked to Peter twice; Charlotte's mother still wasn't doing well, and he'd taken emergency vacation from work to stay with her, and he wasn't sure when they'd be home. I told him not to worry about it, that her cat was great company. That made Peter try to draw out more information, and I just told him to be there for Char and we'd maybe talk about it later.

Bella didn't call again, but Edward called twice every day. I always let his calls go to voice mail and I never returned them. I just wasn't ready to talk to him yet.

Saturday morning I got up and did laundry, and found the bar tab from the week before in the pocket of the jeans I'd worn that night. I tossed it onto the kitchen table next to my books, and throughout the day as I studied, my eyes wandered to it, and thoughts of the large dimpled man invaded my mind. It couldn't hurt to take a break from studying and spend a couple of hours at the bar, could it? I needed to socialize somehow, and since I didn't have my two best friends encouraging me to go out anymore, and really, I needed to get to know other people. Peter was great pulling me out of my sometimes introverted self, but since he wasn't home, I was on my own.

That's how I found myself back outside Oasis at ten on a Saturday night, fidgeting, trying to decide if I wanted to go in. After a moment of lingering, I finally gave myself a mental kick in the ass and walked through the door. The bar was busy, but not packed or crazily loud. Rather than fight my way through the bodies at the bar, I found an empty booth along the wall and slid into it, trying to decide whether to play it cool and wait to be served, or bolt back home like my instincts screamed.

"I thought I might find you here," a quiet voice said at my elbow.

I looked up and over into the soft grey-blue eyes of Bella's other best friend, Alice. "Alice," I nodded my greeted and waved her toward the open seat across from me. She slid into it, a drink already in hand preventing me from asking if I could order her one. "How'd you know to look for me here?" I didn't know her all that well; I'd hung out with her and Bella a few times.

"Bella," she answered with a shrug, the thin straw from her drink between her lips. "She's worried about you."

I sighed. "I'm worried about her, too, but..."

"You're still hurt," Alice finished. "She understands, and that's why she asked if I'd see how you are. She figured you didn't want to see her yet, or talk to her, or you'd have returned her calls. I stopped by your place, but on my way back to mine, I saw you lingering outside, so…"

I nodded as the blonde from before approached the table, bar tray tucked under her arm. There was an almost critical look in her eye before she asked for my order. I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea and a basket of nachos. She nodded shortly and moved on, leaving me confused with her attitude. I figured maybe she'd just been having a bad night.

"So?" I prompted Alice after the waitress stepped away.

"So I thought I'd stop in and try to talk to you. At least so Bella knows you're okay. Are you?" she asked, twirling the straw in her drink.

I shrugged. "I'm eating, sleeping, going to classes and doing my homework," I said. "So, I guess so."

It was clear from her stare that Alice didn't believe me, but thankfully, she didn't push the matter. "How's school?" she asked instead.

We chatted for awhile, about my classes and her business. Alice was a personal shopper for the area's elite, as well as a designer of a small line of jewelry and handbags. She didn't work for any particular store, but got to do what she loved, helping people dress their best while having time to still be creative. Throughout the conversation, Alice dropped small hints about Bella; she had stayed the week with Alice before finally going home.

Alice didn't mention anything about Edward.

We polished off the basket of nachos together, and Alice left after she finished her drink. When she'd gone, I ordered another drink and sat quietly at the table, soaking up the atmosphere and the lighter moods of the people around me. When the music changed and people started dancing, I threw back the rest of my drink and dropped a few bills on the table to cover my tab. I didn't think I could stand to sit around and watch couples be all...couple-y.

Emmett was at the bar, and I nodded at him on my way out. He returned it with a curious expression on his face, but I didn't pause to examine it.

xXx

As the weeks went on, I got used to my more solitary existence. Charlotte's mom began to recover and she and Peter returned to town after a couple weeks away, when their vacation times were used up, though they still went to visit about every other weekend. Charlotte's cat moved back to her apartment, and Peter seemed to be over there more than he was at our place. It seemed that they'd grown even closer while they'd been gone, and if I'd had to bet, I would have said they'd be engaged by the time school was out. With Peter out of the apartment it seemed a bit emptier at times, but somehow, I didn't mind it. I'd always been a bit of a loner; spending too much time with other people tended to make me irritable and cranky, and my classes generally took up most of my tolerance for others. Without Edward, Peter, or Bella to drag me out, I easily settled into a comfortable routine.

Left on my own when I wasn't in classes, I lost myself in school work, finding it a great distraction from everything. My phone still rang twice, every day, the familiar number flashing across the screen. I ignored it, and eventually, Edward quit leaving messages, though he didn't stop calling until I finally agreed to speak with him.

There was a knot of dread and anxiety in my belly as I drove to Edward's on a Friday night. I didn't want to make a scene in public, but I didn't want him at my place, so I'd agreed to meet him at his.

It went about as well as I'd expected, which meant I was relieved that a) he didn't have a roommate and b) we hadn't met in public.

"You knew I could never have come out to my parents," he'd said, growing exasperated, a growling edge to his normally velvety smooth voice.

"So, that meant it was okay for you to lie to me and cheat on me, with someone I trusted?" I asked, astonished at his logic.

"I need to be with someone my parents will accept. Bella and I...we just make sense," he said.

"Make sense?" I repeated. He never even would have met her if not for me. She was a liberal arts person - he was hard sciences. Their paths never would have crossed if I hadn't been the thread that tangled them all up. "And what were we, Edward?" I asked softly, trying to rein in my anger and frustration, trying not to let all the hurt I felt show on my face. "We were three years," I answered before he could. "You were my best friend. My lover. I _trusted_, you, Edward. Do you have any idea..." I trailed off before I could ask him the question that I was pretty sure I already had the answer to.

"You took my best friend, both of my best friends away from me," I continued after a deep breath. "How long?" I demanded suddenly.

"Uhm," Edward stuttered. "Since Halloween," he said softly.

Months, then, they'd managed to hide it from me. "Do I even want to know how you managed to convince Bella to go behind my back?" I asked bitterly.

"I'm not proud of what I've done," he began.

"Oh, knock it the fuck off, Edward," I said, finally raising my voice. "How'd you do it? Convince her it was to strengthen our relationship? Persuade her that you were confused about your sexuality and that I'd understand since she was my friend? Tell her that you'd already broken it off with me?"

It was the sudden loss of color in his face that revealed the truth. "You son of a bitch," I whispered. No wonder Bella had seemed to hurt - she hadn't known that we were technically still together, though we hadn't _been_ together for weeks at that point. "Did you ever tell her the truth?"

He nodded, swallowing. "After you left," he confessed.

That put her phone message that night into a whole new context. She hadn't been a willing conspirator after all; she'd been betrayed as truly as I had. "Has she forgiven you?" I growled.

"Not yet," he admitted.

The 'but we're working on it,' was left hanging in the air so heavily he may as well have said it. I couldn't blame Bella, really; when he wasn't been a world class assholeish snob, Edward Anthony Cullen was a guy anyone would be lucky to have.

"Good for her, "I muttered, pleased that at least she was going to make him work for her forgiveness. "I guess we're done then," I said, moving to rise.

"Jasper-" Edward said, following me, holding his hand out to stop me.

"No. We're done, Edward. You've gotten what you want and need - someone you can take home to your parents and they can be proud of, someone that's socially acceptable in their world. But I hope she knows what she's getting in to - if you can do this to me after three years together, if you can manipulate her into unknowingly hurting one of her best friends, then Christ only knows what you're capable of."

"Jasper, I-"

"Don't, Edward," I said shortly. "You get to live with it. You get to live with the fact that for three years, you had a man who loved you with everything he had, and you threw that away to be the perfect son your parents wanted to have, instead of being a real man and being true to yourself and those who really love you. You hurt me, you hurt Bella, and you hurt yourself, and you get to live with that, for the rest of your life." I said, crossing to the door. I couldn't bear to hear him spout declarations of love, not then, not when the truth of everything had been laid at my feet. "Good bye, Edward," I said, and stepped out of the townhome, closing the door behind me with a click, rather than the dramatic slam I considered for half a second.

I left Edward's feeling no better about things than I had before I'd gone over. If anything, I felt worse. I'd known we weren't going to part as friends, but it still hurt to know the relationship we'd built over the course of three years was over, and the man that I thought I'd loved had broken my heart. But what made it worse was finding out how easily Edward had lied and manipulated those he was closest to in order to get what he wanted, without sparing much thought to how he hurt anyone. What had happened to the young man I had fallen in love with, shared three years of my life with?

As much as I wasn't in the mood to do anything but go home and pull the covers up over my head for awhile, I stopped at a small diner in Edward's neighborhood where we'd eaten before and took over a vacant booth, spreading out my notes and a textbook to study over a stack of pancakes smothered in syrup and a bottomless cup of coffee.

I had exams coming up, which meant I needed to focus, and it took some time for me to sink into my work, but I eventually hit my stride and focused on my books, the noise of the lone server and cook chatting behind the counter washing over me as I reviewed my notes about poetry for the English class I'd put off during my first few semesters. The instructor allowed us one small index card for notes, and I was in the middle of painstakingly printing, in incredibly tiny letters, everything I could think of that I'd need on the exam when the table was jostled, sending my pencil skidding across my card and the nearly empty cup of coffee to bump against my elbow.

"Fuck," I muttered, reaching for the eraser I'd set out so I could clean up my notes.

"Sorry."

I lifted my head, blinking as I tried to focus behind my reading glasses after staring at print for the past several hours. "Emmett?"

"Hey. Sorry 'bout that," he said again. "Are you busy or...?"

Most of the table was strewn with my things, but I shook my head, reaching for a stack on his side of the table and shifting it over. "Nope, I could probably use a break, actually," I admitted. I took off my glasses and squinted, still trying to get my eyes to adjust. All the next words I had sounded like extremely cheesy pick up lines, and thankfully, I was saved by the server coming over to refill my coffee and take Emmett's order.

"How're things?" He asked, settling back into his seat after the server stepped away. "I haven't seen you around much lately."

I shrugged. I hadn't been back to the bar since running into Alice that night, school and starting to accumulate applications for summer internship positions having taken over my life, occasionally even to the point where I would go hours without thinking about Edward. Peter, likewise, had been distracted enough with Charlotte that he wasn't trying to force me to be social in his spare time, either. "Just been busy," I answered.

Emmett didn't look convinced as he nodded. "I don't see you here, much; it's out of your usual neighborhood, isn't it, if you can walk home from the bar?" he asked as the waitress, Marge, her nametag read, delivered a fountain glass full of milkshake, the silver tumbler beside it.

"I was visiting someone in the area," I answered casually.

Emmett nodded again as he stirred the extra shake in the tumbler with the long handled spoon. "Ex-girlfriend?"

I blinked. "Ex boyfriend," I confirmed softly, looking down into the cup of coffee between my palms.

"It didn't work out?"

I stared at him for a minute. I thought I had done a better job of hiding my emotional turmoil from those around me - none of my classmates had picked up on anything, at least - but Emmett seemed to see right through me. "He wanted it to. I didn't," I said simply, hoping he'd understand that I was ready to drop it.

"His loss. What're you studying?"

His change of topic took me by surprise. "Specifically, or tonight?"

"Either. Both," he said, shrugging his huge shoulders, his smile causing his dimples to show.

I almost felt a grin tug at my lips. "I'm a pre-med psychology major with a minor in history. Tonight I'm studying for an English midterm, a major test in organic chemistry and putting notes together for a research paper in one of my psychology classes," I explained, gesturing at each stack of books and notes as I spoke.

"Yeah, I remember those days," Emmett said. "Don't miss that part of college one bit. 'Course, Rosie's still finishing up her Master's, thinking about getting her PhD, so I still hear about it all the time," he explained. "She majored in engineering, and she'd like to roll that into a second business, maybe an auto shop someday, when we're in a better position to diversify. We've only been open for a few years, and dad's still waiting to see if the investment in the bar, and my business degree are going to pay off. But hopefully we'll be able to let her open her own shop, without having to get our parents to front the cash for the investment like they did the bar."

"So you and Rosalie are-"

"Brother and sister," he finishes before I can ask the question. "Well - step siblings, to be honest, though we were young enough when our parents married that it never really felt that way," he said with another shrug and his seemingly perpetual grin.

"How long have you been in Seattle?" I asked.

"What makes you think I'm not a local boy?" he asked with a wink. "Our family moved here when we were seniors in high school, which sucked. But I got into Udub playing baseball and when Rosalie finished her BS in Portland, she came back for grad school and helped me open the bar."

I nodded, content to let him keep talking as Marge brought over a plate of an omelet with toast and hash browns, and set down another plate of pancakes in front of me with a wink.

"We went with a bit of a southern thing cause we hadn't found anything like that around here, at least nothin' that wasn't completely hokey," he explained, reaching to the end of the table for the hot sauce, salt, and pepper.

I nodded again - one of the reasons why Peter went there so often was because it also reminded him of summers spent with our grandparents, without being too stereotypically country.

"Speaking of, where's home for you?" Emmett prompted.

"Most recently, you mean?" I clarified. "My family lived in Texas until I was fifteen, and then moved to Southern California. My parents just moved back to my hometown my freshman year." Just before daddy had gotten sick, I didn't say, but I knew it had been one small blessing that they'd had my grandparents and Peter's folks (daddy's sister) to help out.

"You get home much?" he asked, slathering his toast with a thick layer of grape jelly from the little plastic tub, two tubs per half slice.

"For Christmas, usually," I answered, smearing the butter over my hot pancakes, watching it melt in to the pastry before I drowned them in warm syrup. "Sometimes spring break, if I don't have too much work to do, or my parents aren't traveling somewhere now that they're semi-retired."

"What does that even mean?" Emmett asked with a whiny note in his voice, making me smile. "I mean - you're either retired or not, right?"

From there we slid into easy casual conversation. We chatted as we ate, and the hours slipped away until the sun began to peek through the windows of the diner and the first of the breakfast crew began to show up. Emmett asked for my phone number as I packed up my books to clear the table when people who were going to want to pay to eat started arriving, and I gave it to him, accepting his invitation to the live band the bar was hosting the following weekend. Then I went home and slept for twelve hours, before pulling myself from bed and taking over the kitchen table to finish studying, pausing only for food, not missing the twice-daily ring of my cell phone.

However, when Emmett texted me the next Friday night, wondering where I was, I welcomed the interruption after a long week of essays and tests. The band Emmett had booked was good, and losing myself in the music helped to clear my head a bit from the week I'd had.

Over the next several weeks, I began to spend more time at the bar, usually on quieter nights. It turned out to actually be a pretty good study spot for me; the ambient noise on weeknights was a great back ground to studying, and the food was great.

And so was the company.

I was at home one Wednesday night when my phone rang. Sometime in the previous couple of weeks Emmett had programmed his phone numbers, home, cell, and the bar, into my phone. He was on his mobile.

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Is this a trick question?"I asked, only half teasing. Wednesdays were usually my quiet night in, since I only had a morning lab that day, I was able to spend the rest of the school day in the library on campus working. Wednesday was the night I allowed myself to catch up on television, or read for pleasure, or just sleep.

"Nope," he answered happily. "Seriously, Jas, what are you doing?"

I glanced down at my worn sweats and t-shirt. "Laundry?" I suggested.

Emmett laughed. "Scare up some jeans and something decent and be ready to go in fifteen minutes," he ordered.

"Why?" I asked, tucking the phone between my chin and shoulder as I rose, already moving to obey.

"It's a surprise?" he offered.

"Emmett," I threatened.

"Okay. When's the last time you went somewhere that wasn't school, the bar, the diner, or the library?" he asked.

"Uhm." I actually had to think about that one.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Get dressed. I'll be there in ten."

"Emmett-" I tried, but got only silence. "Figures," I sighed as I stepped into my bedroom. I changed into a (mostly) clean pair of jeans and a somewhat wrinkle free button up. I stamped my feet into a pair of tennis shoes and ran my fingers through my hair, taking a moment to tie it back into a stubby tail at the base of my neck. I scrounged up my wallet and house keys and gave myself two minutes to be anxious before calming myself down, just as someone honked from the parking lot.

Emmett drove a large red older model Jeep Wrangler, and it was idling at the curb by my apartment. "Hey," I greeted him as I slid into the passenger seat.

"You found clean clothes, I see," he teased as he shifted the car into gear.

"Clean enough," I muttered.

He laughed. "You'll be fine," he assured me.

"Thanks," I said dryly, wondering where we were going, but not bothering to ask.

Emmett started up a conversation as he drove, easily navigating through town. Talking with him seemed so effortless, and it turned out that we had more in common than I would have thought upon our first meeting. Though Emmett had been accepted to college on a sports scholarship, he'd hurt himself during his sophomore year, and had surprised many of his friends with turning out to be a pretty solid academic student, in spite of his propensity for acting like a goof ball. In that way, Emmett reminded me somewhat of Peter. We liked a lot of the same things, though we also had a lot of differing opinions, too, and it made it easy to carry on a conversation.

When Emmett parked, we were in what looked like a strip mall parking lot, fairly full for a weeknight. I slid from the car as Emmett did, then stopped him before I could identify which particular establishment we might be approaching. "We're not going to a strip club, are we?" I asked, anxious.

Emmett laughed. "Nope. Come on," he said, dropping a friendly (and not unwelcome) arm over my shoulders, guiding me toward a non-descript store front. I'm not sure what I expected when we entered, but a festively lit room of small tables, a stage with full lighting, and a bar wasn't it. There was a lone microphone on the stage, I noted, as Emmett warmly greeted the doorman and we held our hands out to be stamped.

He'd brought me to a comedy club, and I ended up having a fantastic time. It turned out that a friend of his owned the place, and kept it running by word of mouth and local advertising, and was doing well, despite the lack of signage outside identifying it as a club. Emmett and I shared a few drinks and most of the comics were great, and I couldn't remember a time I had laughed so hard, or so freely.

Emmett took me home, and walked me to my door. As I was about to thank him again and say goodnight, he kissed me. His hand wrapped lightly around the back of my neck, urging me to lean into him slightly. His lips were warm and firm, though the kiss was little more than chaste. One of my hands rested against his belly, the other managed to twine around Emmett's free hand at my side.

He drew away, his fingers leaving a trail of pressure along my scruffy jawbone that I hadn't felt in far too long. "Emmett, I-"

His smile was lopsided, but his eyes were understanding. "I know," he said. "Can we just see where this goes?" His tone was soft, but there was something vulnerable in his voice.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'd like that."

He kissed me again, barely more than a brush of lips against mine, and then he declined my invitation to come in for awhile, a faint blush lighting his cheeks.

We saw each other fairly regularly after that, either at the bar, which had quickly become my new favorite hangout, or, when our schedules allowed, going out someplace else together. Emmett had great taste in music and movies, but he also enjoyed attending sporting events (especially baseball I found out in the spring), and slowly began to encourage me to get out more and experience things that my former partner never would have considered. My world began to expand, and while I didn't accumulate a large circle of friends right away, I began to grow familiar with a number of regulars at the bar, and get closer to a few of my classmates who put together study groups for everything from classes to the looming MCATS we'd all have to take.

The school year eventually came to a close, and I passed all my classes with exceptional scores, setting me up to graduate with solid honors the following spring. I was scheduled to take a couple of classes over the summer session to make up for the cut in classes I had to take when my dad was sick, but I'd picked up a 3/4 time job at the local hospital as an assistant to one of the big-wig doctors. It was scut work, but I got to observe a few times, which was great experience for me.

I was down at Oasis again, on another slow Thursday night. It'd been nearly six months since I'd seen Bella, though we'd talked on the phone and sent emails back and forth, trying to re-establish the tenuous bonds of friendship that were still between us. It seemed that she (or Edward) was overly anxious about seeing me, and I respected her wishes.

So, really, it shouldn't have surprised me when Karma reared her ugly head and Alice and Bella crossed into the bar, not so casually looking around for where I was holed up in a booth with a text book, a burger, and a beer. Emmett's coffee was still warm in his seat across from mine where he'd been keeping me company until Rose had called him away to answer the phone.

Bella hung back slightly while Alice approached. "Is this a bad time?" she asked softly, taking in the mess on the table.

"No," I answered, looking behind to where Bella stood, looking around, fidgeting. I slid from the booth, and it nearly broke my heart all over again to see Bella flinch and take a step back. "Hey," I said softly, holding my hand out.

With a quiet noise that may have been a sob, Bella stepped into my arms, burying her face against my chest, her arms wrapped around my waist so tight I was afraid I wouldn't be able to breathe.

"I've missed you so much," she said softly.

I hugged her back. "I missed you too, Bella," I confessed.

We stood for a moment until Alice cleared her throat politely. Bella stepped away, swiping her fingers under her eyes quickly before she slid into the empty side of the booth with Alice, while I took my seat again, pulling Emmett's mug back to my side of the table. Bella kept her hands in her lap while I straightened my papers and we started getting caught up, slowly, talking about classes at first, then working Alice into the conversation before Rosalie got back to the table to take orders from the girls. She shot me a dark look as she walked away to get their drinks, and I frowned, watching her go. Alice asked about my job/internship, pulling my attention back to the table.

Rosalie brought me a fresh beer along with the girls' drinks, and when Bella finally lifted her hands to the table, the dim light over the table flashed on the rock on her left hand. At least I knew why she'd finally sought me out, and why she'd brought Alice as a reinforcement.

"When's the wedding?" I asked quietly, reaching for my beer.

Bella's face reddened. "We haven't set a date yet. It's only been a couple of weeks," she answered. "But it probably won't be until after graduation. Ed- he doesn't want the distraction from his studies," she said softly.

"You can say his name, B," I said offhand. From the corner of my eye I could see Emmett lurking behind the bar. I glanced his way and shook my head slightly at his inquisitive look. I was fine; I'd introduce him to them some other time. "Are you happy?" I asked, looking into her face.

She was toying with the stirrer in her glass. "Yes," she admitted finally. "I wasn't for awhile," she continued, glancing at Alice, who nodded encouragingly. "He lied to me, too. But we worked it out. I just..." she trailed off and took a long drink from her glass. "I didn't want you to find out second or third hand."

I nodded, not sure how to respond to that. If she was happy...well...I couldn't do much about it anyway. "Congratulations," I said, offering what I hoped was a convincing smile.

Bella returned the smile and nodded.

"So, are you seeing anyone, Jazzy?" Alice asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Now why would you ask that, Mary Alice?" I shot back.

She bounced slightly while taking an elegant sip from her drink. Bella looked much more relaxed with her news out in the open. "A little birdie maybe saw you with a certain bartender in a certain diner in a certain neighborhood late at night, looking very cozy in a booth," she reported.

I rolled my eyes. She was such a gossip. And I should have known Edward would have spotted me and Emmett together at some point; Emmett lived just around the corner from Edward. "Yes," I answered simply.

Bella smiled brightly, glancing around the bar. Emmett had moved from behind the counter, either back to the office or the kitchen. "Can we meet him?" she asked eagerly.

"Maybe another time, girls, okay?" I suggested.

Alice just looked smug. We spent another hour chatting over a second round of drinks and a basket of fried foods the girls ordered, and it was nice to get caught back up with Bella, though I could tell it would still be some time before our friendship could hope to approach what we'd had before. Bella kissed my cheek when Alice scampered off to the restroom before they left. "Don't be a stranger, okay?" she asked softly. "I know it's not easy, but I never meant to hurt you - I didn't _know_ I was hurting you, and I still want to be friends."

I nodded and gave her hand a squeeze.

She seemed to accept that and took off after Alice. I waited for them to re-emerge from the back, then followed them to the door with my eyes. Once they were gone, I stared blankly at the stack of textbooks in front of me, wondering how Edward had managed to convince her to marry him. I wondered how he'd sweet talked her, what kind of promises he'd made. If it had been me, I'm not sure there was anything he could have done to persuade me to stay with him, if he'd used me the way he'd used Bella.

"Are you fucking with my brother?" Rose asked bluntly.

"Pardon?" I asked, startled by her sudden appearance at my elbow.

"Look, I've seen you with that dark haired girl before, and that brunette looked like she would pass out from joy because you were speaking with her. So what's up, you're just stringing Emmett along?" she demanded.

"No," I answered slowly. "Not that it's really any of your business, but that brunette was Bella, the girl who was my best friend before my ex-boyfriend decided he needed a girlfriend instead. Well, fiancé, now. The other is her best friend, Alice, who has, and I quote 'sworn off dick until their owners can quit acting like them.' I'm not toying with Emmett. I think he's a great guy, and I'm just trying to take it slow. I've had enough drama to last me awhile," I explained quietly.

She snatched the empty glasses off my table with a huff and stomped away.

I sighed. Rosalie hadn't really warmed to me, and I doubted she would. I had a feeling it had more to do with me not being good enough for her brother. Or maybe she was just pissed that I had higher ambitions and thought I would leave Emmett to pursue my career. But we hadn't done much more than go on a couple of dates so far, and both of us seemed to be content to let things warm up at their own pace. I wasn't sure exactly what she was worried about. I couldn't promise not to hurt Emmett, not even if she asked, since I knew that no relationship was entirely pain free.

Emmett came by to let me know he was having to get back to work, and I smiled at the soft brush of lips against mine. I worked quietly for another hour before packing up to head home before the bar got busy, sending Em a quick text on my way out.

xXx

My relationship with Emmett evolved naturally over the course of the next several months. Peter proposed to Charlotte and moved out of our apartment, and I spent so much time at the bar and Em's townhouse that he asked me to move in with him, as a roommate, at first. My lease was up at the end of December, so I was happy to let the place go (Peter had continued to pay rent to help me out while I struggled to find a roommate) and move into one of the spare bedroom's at Em's.

Turns out I didn't actually keep my own bedroom for long.

A couple of months after I moved into Emmett's, I got a small square envelope in the mail. It had no return address, but it was a local postmark, and it had been forwarded from my address at the old apartment. Curious, I opened it.

_Dr. and Mrs Cullen, Mr. Charlie Swan and Mrs__ Renee __Dwyer_

_request your presence as they celebrate the marriage of_

_Edward Anthony Cullen_

_and_

_Isabella Marie Swan_

_at One-thirty o'clock_

_June the 15th_

An address was included.

Part of me couldn't help but wonder, as it had over the course of the past year or so, if Edward would have broken it off with me if he hadn't been caught, or if he would have simply tried to have the best of both worlds. I couldn't say I didn't still love him; he hurt me, betrayed me, and stole one of my best friends, but even that hadn't erased the three years we'd had together up until that point.

I couldn't imagine what had prompted him to include the invitation. Bella wouldn't have, knowing how painful it would have been. Which meant that it was probably Edward's mother, Esme, having gone through Edward's address book and selected all his friends, probably while asking "what happened to that nice boy you used to bring around and study with all the time? What was his name, James, Johnny...?"

And that's when I realized that it didn't matter anymore what Edward's motivation had been, or what had changed him, or where the sexually insecure but gorgeous young man had gone. He was getting his happily ever after, and even at my expense, I didn't have to worry about it anymore. Edward was no longer going to be my problem, and while I missed him, and the friendship I'd shared with him and Bella, I knew that my life was better for his absence.

xXx

We all graduated that summer, two weeks before their wedding was scheduled. My mama and daddy came into town for the weekend, and they seemed to truly like Emmett, and spent some time catching up with Peter and relaying news from his parents while helping him and Charlotte pull together a few things for their wedding, to be held in the fall.

Edward and I graduated together, of course, being in the same school, though I felt fortunate to be separated from him by the entire alphabet. Carlisle and Esme politely ignored me when they happened to wander past, though Bella spared me a small smile, still wearing the lei I assumed she'd gotten for her own ceremony for Arts and Letters which had been that morning.

I avoided Edward's gaze as I passed his row on my way back to my seat, my shiny black folder in hand; they'd be mailing our diplomas home after grades had all been verified. I knew that he and Bella would be moving to Chicago after the wedding; he'd been accepted to the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern, and I'd also heard through the grapevine (okay, Alice), that Bella had gotten into their MFA program. I was staying local, transitioning into the medical school at the same university. I'd fallen in love with the city, and though my parents were disappointed I wasn't coming home, I think they understood.

Though I'm not sure they'd have understood why I had passed on UC Davis or UNC Chapel Hill to stay in the Seattle area. Or more specifically, to stay within an easy distance of my favorite bar(tender).

My parents took me out for dinner after the graduation ceremony, and once they were settled back in their hotel for the night (they were staying a few more days), I made my way to Oasis, where I knew Emmett had organized something of a surprise party for me.

xXx

Feeling lighter than I had in ages, I made my way back to the Oasis, still dressed in the semi-formal slacks and button up I'd tugged on after my shower, so that I'd at least look like I'd belonged at the wedding reception I'd just crashed. But I'd still worn my favorite pair of cowboy boots; I hadn't worn dress shoes in forever, since every formal event I'd ever attended had been back home, and well worn boots were the standard, rather than an oddity. Bella hadn't seemed too surprised to see me there, though I'd thought that Edward's head was going to explode when I'd asked his new bride for a dance.

As much as I'd gone there for a different reason, I couldn't help but fuck with him; the conversation I'd had with Bella while dancing was completely innocent, though perhaps I'd missed a calling as an actor as Edward grew more and more pale as I kept shooting him surreptitious looks in between whispered words. Really, I'd told Bella she was beautiful, that I hoped she was happy, and that she should keep in touch. I had no desire to stay friends with Edward, but I would try to be friends with Bella's husband, if she wanted. When the dance ended, she had invited me to stay, to meet her parents, but I declined, catching the anxious looks that Carlisle and Esme were shooting my way (and as fun as it might have been, I wouldn't have ruined Bella's day by making a scene. If Edward had married anyone else, I'd have seriously thought about it). Their looks made me wonder if Edward had finally coughed up the truth about his relationship with me. I kissed Bella's cheek and told her to call me, and ducked out before the toasts began.

"Hey, Jas," Rosalie greeted me as I let myself into the bar. It was still early, so there were only a few patrons scattered around the bar, and the music was turned down. "He's in the back."

"Thanks," I said, feeling the smile stretch over my face. I felt free again, unencumbered of the grief and weight of that previous relationship and betrayal. It had taken over a year to let it go, to begin to weave new relationships with other people, but I'd gotten over it. I wound my way through the tables, and through the door marked "Employees Only" that led to the store room, the staff locker room, and the manager's office. The door was hanging open just a bit, and the sound of Emmett singing, badly and off key spilled out into the small hallway. My smile softened somewhat as I tapped on the door and pushed it open.

"Hey," I said, just loud enough to carry over the music.

Emmett looked up, smiled, and quickly spun the volume control on the computer's speakers. "Hey."

I crossed the small office, avoiding the two guest chairs positioned on the side of the desk opposite Emmett, and perched instead on the corner of the large oak monstrosity, which was strewn with papers. "You busy tonight?" I asked.

Emmett grinned. "I think I can make some space in my schedule. Why?"

I leaned forward and kissed him, one hand curling around the back of his neck, the other braced on the edge of the desk to keep myself from toppling forward. My eyes closed as he returned my kiss, and I straightened slightly as his chair rolled a bit closer to the desk, one of Emmett's large hands at my hip. My upper teeth scraped against his bottom lip as we pulled apart, the hand I had used to brace myself moving to cup his stubbled cheek lightly. "'Cause I've found where I belong," I said softly, and kissed him again.

* * *

Author's end note: so, this was in a slightly different style and tone for me. I'd love to hear what you thought.


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